MOVEMENT & TRANSPORTATION charms
In today's lesson, we will be discussing charms that are used to move objects or transport the witch or wizard somewhere. We'll start with the most-used movement charm: the Summoning Charm.
The incantation for the Summoning Charm is accio, with the name of the object you are summoning usually said after the incantation. Your wand must point at (or in the direction of) the object, and you must have the object clear in your sight. Some wizards and witches are able to cast the spell successfully as long as they know where the object they are summoning is and can picture this location instead. It is important to note that the Summoning Charm only works on objects; it will not summon living things. (Well, not very many living things... you can summon Flobberworms with it, if you so desire...) There is debate as to whether the distance between the caster and the object they are trying to summon has an effect on the difficulty of the summoning.
In opposition to the Summoning Charm is the Banishing Charm, with the incantation depulso. Interestingly enough, depulso rarely requires the caster to say the name of the object they are banishing; in most cases, simply saying depulso and pointing your wand at the object is enough for the charm to be successful. It is much less specific than the Summoning Charm, and as such, you need to be sure you are pointing your wand directly at whatever you are Banishing, not just in the general direction. Also unlike the Summoning Charm, the Banishing Charm does have at least some effect on living things. That being said, please do not practice this charm on your classmates, housemates, unsuspecting pets, or other creatures. It's quite rude.
Chasers bow down to this next charm: the Slow Movement Charm. The incantation is arresto momentum, and the effect of this charm is to slow the movement of an object. All quaffles now come with a slow-movement enchantment, to stop them from falling through the air so quickly. Without this charm, Chasers would find themselves diving down a lot more in Quidditch! Speaking of charms Quidditch players love, who could forget the one that makes it all possible - the Flying Charm! The Flying Charm is one of those few charms where different people use different incantations for it, but it all works the same - it gives an object the ability to fly! It is placed on brooms, carpets, and many other things to give witches and wizards preferable modes of transportation. It cannot be cast on a person.
If you're looking to stop an object completely, you'll want to use a Freezing Charm, such as immobulus. This charm can also, reportedly, be used to de-active Muggle technology.
Now, if you're looking to move some things around, then the locomotor and mobilius charms will be your friends. Locomotor often has the name of the object after it, such as locomotor trunk, though we will see other instances of the locomotor charm when we discuss duelling and offensive spells. The Mobilius charm works either on trees, plants, and objects made from trees/plants (mobiliarbus), or it works on living things that are otherwise unable to move themselves (mobilicorpus). Students often find themselves especially good at a variation of these movement spells that helps them pack their trunks - the most proficient are simply able to point at their trunks and say "Pack!", and the objects that often are kept in the trunk will return to it.
One of the more commonly used mobility spells is the Levitation Charm. Pronounciation is especially important here - many students stress the wrong syllable, so consult your textbooks if it's not working for you. There's a transcription there that tells you how to say it. Wingardium leviosa is the incantation for the levitation charm. This charm not only levitates objects, but allows you to direct their movement through the air by moving your wand.
One of the more fun movement charms is Glisseo. The sole purpose of this charm is to transform a set of stairs into a slide. Don't say I never taught you anything fun! That being said, though, please try not to use this charm on the stairs at school... at least not when other students are attempting to use them. I'm not technically supposed to teach this charm to you anymore - a couple years ago an overzealous student cast it on every single staircase in the Grand Staircase and turned it into one big slide, which was great fun for those who needed to get to the bottom, but not so fun for everyone who wanted to get somewhere else.... so let's keep this between us, eh?
The incantation ascendio, with your wand pointed skyward, will launch you a few feet into the air. It is very useful underwater, if you find you are running short on both air and time to reach the surface. In opposition to this charm is descendo, which causes objects to fall or move downwards. It is especially useful for getting objects off of shelves if you aren't very tall or have exceptionally high shelves (though you should be careful not to bring down the shelves themselves!)
Finally, we will briefly cover the Portkey Charm, portus. As the name states, this charm will turn any object into a Portkey - a magical item which, when touched, transports the person somewhere else. It is very important to note that the creation of new Portkeys requires permission from the Ministry of Magic. Successful casting of the charm will cause the object to glow blue momentarily.
The incantation for the Summoning Charm is accio, with the name of the object you are summoning usually said after the incantation. Your wand must point at (or in the direction of) the object, and you must have the object clear in your sight. Some wizards and witches are able to cast the spell successfully as long as they know where the object they are summoning is and can picture this location instead. It is important to note that the Summoning Charm only works on objects; it will not summon living things. (Well, not very many living things... you can summon Flobberworms with it, if you so desire...) There is debate as to whether the distance between the caster and the object they are trying to summon has an effect on the difficulty of the summoning.
In opposition to the Summoning Charm is the Banishing Charm, with the incantation depulso. Interestingly enough, depulso rarely requires the caster to say the name of the object they are banishing; in most cases, simply saying depulso and pointing your wand at the object is enough for the charm to be successful. It is much less specific than the Summoning Charm, and as such, you need to be sure you are pointing your wand directly at whatever you are Banishing, not just in the general direction. Also unlike the Summoning Charm, the Banishing Charm does have at least some effect on living things. That being said, please do not practice this charm on your classmates, housemates, unsuspecting pets, or other creatures. It's quite rude.
Chasers bow down to this next charm: the Slow Movement Charm. The incantation is arresto momentum, and the effect of this charm is to slow the movement of an object. All quaffles now come with a slow-movement enchantment, to stop them from falling through the air so quickly. Without this charm, Chasers would find themselves diving down a lot more in Quidditch! Speaking of charms Quidditch players love, who could forget the one that makes it all possible - the Flying Charm! The Flying Charm is one of those few charms where different people use different incantations for it, but it all works the same - it gives an object the ability to fly! It is placed on brooms, carpets, and many other things to give witches and wizards preferable modes of transportation. It cannot be cast on a person.
If you're looking to stop an object completely, you'll want to use a Freezing Charm, such as immobulus. This charm can also, reportedly, be used to de-active Muggle technology.
Now, if you're looking to move some things around, then the locomotor and mobilius charms will be your friends. Locomotor often has the name of the object after it, such as locomotor trunk, though we will see other instances of the locomotor charm when we discuss duelling and offensive spells. The Mobilius charm works either on trees, plants, and objects made from trees/plants (mobiliarbus), or it works on living things that are otherwise unable to move themselves (mobilicorpus). Students often find themselves especially good at a variation of these movement spells that helps them pack their trunks - the most proficient are simply able to point at their trunks and say "Pack!", and the objects that often are kept in the trunk will return to it.
One of the more commonly used mobility spells is the Levitation Charm. Pronounciation is especially important here - many students stress the wrong syllable, so consult your textbooks if it's not working for you. There's a transcription there that tells you how to say it. Wingardium leviosa is the incantation for the levitation charm. This charm not only levitates objects, but allows you to direct their movement through the air by moving your wand.
One of the more fun movement charms is Glisseo. The sole purpose of this charm is to transform a set of stairs into a slide. Don't say I never taught you anything fun! That being said, though, please try not to use this charm on the stairs at school... at least not when other students are attempting to use them. I'm not technically supposed to teach this charm to you anymore - a couple years ago an overzealous student cast it on every single staircase in the Grand Staircase and turned it into one big slide, which was great fun for those who needed to get to the bottom, but not so fun for everyone who wanted to get somewhere else.... so let's keep this between us, eh?
The incantation ascendio, with your wand pointed skyward, will launch you a few feet into the air. It is very useful underwater, if you find you are running short on both air and time to reach the surface. In opposition to this charm is descendo, which causes objects to fall or move downwards. It is especially useful for getting objects off of shelves if you aren't very tall or have exceptionally high shelves (though you should be careful not to bring down the shelves themselves!)
Finally, we will briefly cover the Portkey Charm, portus. As the name states, this charm will turn any object into a Portkey - a magical item which, when touched, transports the person somewhere else. It is very important to note that the creation of new Portkeys requires permission from the Ministry of Magic. Successful casting of the charm will cause the object to glow blue momentarily.